As I walked down the beach after graduation from Air Force Space Command Familiarization Course I began to think. During the last seven days of my life I have learned so much, and had a lot of fun. As I signed up for the course in December of 2003 I expected I would be going to a special activity where I would tour museums and be spoken to by many tour guides throughout the Kennedy Space Center. Wow! I was truly wrong. In the first few minutes being with the camp directors and fellow cadets I learned that we were going to see a rocket launch probe to Mercury in the middle of the night on the first night. This was very exciting - yet, it was only the beginning to a week full of learning and thrill and, as we quickly learned, there would be little down time over the next seven days. Our schedule was packed with one activity after the other.

Three years ago I toured the Kennedy space center with my family on vacation; I expected to see a lot of the same material. Again I was wrong, this camp consisted of many up-close tours, viewing billions of dollars' worth of spacecraft, technology and buildings that the general public would never see. Many days we went to the Air Force side of space center, which is called Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. I never knew the United States Air Force had so much to do with NASA and the space program. Did you know that NASA needs the air force’s permission in order to have a launch? The Air Force Space Command, 45th Space Wing supports the Space Shuttle operations in many ways, including weather data, tracking stations, and air search and rescue. Seeing the Delta rocket launch from Cocoa Beach at 3 o’clock in the morning was an extraordinary scene. I saw a flash, and then heard a roar and the fiery rocket was flying through the dark sky in a matter of seconds. The most interesting building that we toured was the Range Operations Control Center. This building was a very high-security facility. Access was restricted, and it was not easy to receive security clearance in order to enter. During a launch, this building is very hectic as it is the location where the command destruct signal is sent if a rocket or Shuttle veers off course. It is a tradition for astronauts to bring pictures of their family and other loved ones to this building before a launch. This was meant to remind the Air Force personnel to think about the astronaut’s families before they pushed the big red button.

In addition to all of this we also visited Boeing Atlas and Lockheed Martin Delta facilities on the Cape. Both of these competitive companies are constantly trying to improve their technology and build their spacecraft better. These companies both have a launch pad and a launch operations center where they monitor their rocket before, during, and after liftoff. Although these companies are very similar, they have one varying idea on how to construct their rockets. The Boeing Company assembles them horizontally while Lockheed Martin builds the rockets vertically. Each company claims that its way is more productive then its competitor's. While visiting Boeing we stood on the launch pad of the new Delta IV heavy, which stood hundreds of feet tall right next to us. This rocket is a huge project for Boeing. If successful, it may put them ahead of Lockheed Martin in the modern-day space race.

On another day of space command we visited the International Space Station Processing Facility or ISSPF. Here, we stood on the floor next to various space station modules. Some have been to space and some are going shortly. Inside the bay of the ISSPF was about 5 billion dollars' worth of spacecraft. Not only U.S craft; the JEM Japanese experimental module was among them too.

The ultimate highlight of the trip was the day we visited the Space Shuttle Discovery in its hangar. As soon as they opened the doors to the hangar, my mouth opened wide as I was stunned with astonishment. I scanned the massive spacecraft tile by tile from nose to tail. I couldn’t believe I was within touching distance of a Space Shuttle. I carefully walked around the Shuttle examining every square inch of it. As we toured the hangar, the Shuttle was being prepared for its next flight. The Discovery is supposed to be launched in February or March as the return to flight mission, the first flight to space after the Columbia accident. The flight may be postponed due to damage from the hurricanes on the Cape.

In addition to touring buildings on Cape Canaveral, we also had briefings from NASA and AF personnel. My favorite guest speaker was Mr. Ron Caswell, a NASA engineer who works at the International Space Station Processing Facility (ISSPF). He was full of enthusiasm and an enjoyable person to listen to and learn from. One of the topics he spoke to us about was the unfortunate tragedy of the Columbia. Mr. Caswell showed us a slide show of play-by-play action of lift-off and re-entry. It was a complete report about how and why the disaster happened. I learned a lot more about it than the general public hears on the news.

These seven days in Florida were an experience I will never forget. I still have vivid images in my mind from last August. This week allowed me to open my eyes to other careers in the U.S Air Force. I encourage everyone to attend this activity if you get the chance. Lastly, CAP cadets can get a lot out of the program. For me, this was just the beginning of my interesting walk down the sandy beach.